Against the grain The position of Blue-collar workers in unison: Trade union merger and governance in the public services
Against the grain The position of Blue-collar workers in unison: Trade union merger and governance in the public services
In 1993, three trade unions in Britain merged to form UNISON. Whilst this re-alignment of the British trade union movement had long been the desire of one of these 'partner unions' -NUPE - the types of members that the partners organised held relatively little in common, which made this particular merger exceptionally ambitious and difficult. COHSE's Health membership, including many nurses, NALGO's white-collar, mostly local government members, and NUPE's low-paid, manual workers would be brought together in the 'new1 union which pledged to represent all members better than their old unions.
The socio-economic conditions of the 1980s affected the three unions quite differently which predisposed their respective bargaining positions in the merger negotiations in markedly different ways. This allowed NALGO in particular, to wield a strong and relatively uncompromising hand at the bargaining table. However, the shape and style of UNISON was also influenced by the deep histories of the partner unions which differed as much as the styles of governance and membership priorities that had evolved in the unions in more recent times. All of these circumstances combined to present the new union with a seemingly impossible task of reconciling those differences of membership, including status, class, education and income under a style of governance that would encourage equality of participation and remove structural barriers that would otherwise deny members a fair say in the running of their own union. It is shown that this has not happened in many instances and that blue-collar/manual workers have been marginalised in UNISON.
Case studies are analysed by the use of 'Union Form and Union Character' as opposed to more conventional options such as organisational culture. This shows that the formality associated with NALGO's preferred Union Form, has been a strong influence in the development of the governance of UNISON at national level, and that this has been at the / expense of the less regulated and more informal Union Character, governance that \preferred by both COHSE and NUPE.
University of Southampton
Haunch, Paul
372fe039-cfcb-4480-ab9b-2755eee415c0
2001
Haunch, Paul
372fe039-cfcb-4480-ab9b-2755eee415c0
Haunch, Paul
(2001)
Against the grain The position of Blue-collar workers in unison: Trade union merger and governance in the public services.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
In 1993, three trade unions in Britain merged to form UNISON. Whilst this re-alignment of the British trade union movement had long been the desire of one of these 'partner unions' -NUPE - the types of members that the partners organised held relatively little in common, which made this particular merger exceptionally ambitious and difficult. COHSE's Health membership, including many nurses, NALGO's white-collar, mostly local government members, and NUPE's low-paid, manual workers would be brought together in the 'new1 union which pledged to represent all members better than their old unions.
The socio-economic conditions of the 1980s affected the three unions quite differently which predisposed their respective bargaining positions in the merger negotiations in markedly different ways. This allowed NALGO in particular, to wield a strong and relatively uncompromising hand at the bargaining table. However, the shape and style of UNISON was also influenced by the deep histories of the partner unions which differed as much as the styles of governance and membership priorities that had evolved in the unions in more recent times. All of these circumstances combined to present the new union with a seemingly impossible task of reconciling those differences of membership, including status, class, education and income under a style of governance that would encourage equality of participation and remove structural barriers that would otherwise deny members a fair say in the running of their own union. It is shown that this has not happened in many instances and that blue-collar/manual workers have been marginalised in UNISON.
Case studies are analysed by the use of 'Union Form and Union Character' as opposed to more conventional options such as organisational culture. This shows that the formality associated with NALGO's preferred Union Form, has been a strong influence in the development of the governance of UNISON at national level, and that this has been at the / expense of the less regulated and more informal Union Character, governance that \preferred by both COHSE and NUPE.
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Published date: 2001
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Local EPrints ID: 464539
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/464539
PURE UUID: 24ca344f-841a-44c8-afa3-75ca4ca9f179
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 23:45
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 19:35
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Author:
Paul Haunch
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